


Snake in Lion's Skin

by Berrybanana



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Apologies, Battle of Hogwarts, Book 8: The Last Guardian, Canon Divergence - Battle of Hogwarts, Drarry, Fluff and Angst, Honestly I cannot tell you how much I ripped off Artemis Fowl for this one-, Honestly a little ooc, I'm so sorry Mr Colfer-, M/M, Not Beta Read, Polyjuice Potion, Sad Ending, Self-Indulgent, Self-Sacrifice, Sorry Not Sorry, The Last Guardian Spoilers, The more I tried to make it original the more it followed the LG, artemis fowl - Freeform, it's just they're very likely to, technically no one dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 23:40:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18839140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Berrybanana/pseuds/Berrybanana
Summary: Draco takes Harry’s place in the final battle, 'Artemis and The Last Guardian (Chp18- 'Soul Survivor')' Artemis and Holly stylee.(If you haven't read the AF series, please go do yourself a favour and read it. If you read fanfiction like I do, you'll be done in a few weeks-)





	Snake in Lion's Skin

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU, at the beginning of the Golden Trio's 6th year, Narcissa went to Dumbledore and begged him for sanctuary for her family. Dumbledore agreed to hide them but insisted that Draco still return to Hogwarts every year. Draco and the Golden Trio eventually bonded and the poor Slytherin was frequently dragged on their adventures.  
> At the BoH, rather than just asking the students to give up Harry, Voldemort demands they hand over (both Draco and?) Harry- Harry for all the usual stuff (and Draco for daring to switch sides. ?) The Malfoys have been captured and are being held as hostages.
> 
> Of course, Draco isn’t about to let Harry sacrifice himself.
> 
>  
> 
> //This is a very self-indulgent fic, might be a little OOC and I have other fics I want to work on but it's been stuck in my head for a while now and I just had to get it done.//

Draco was making final preparations in Dumbledore’s- Snape’s- _McGonagall’s?_ office, updating his will and attempting to pull himself together. He had to force down the sadness that threatened to well up inside his chest for fear it might cloud his resolve.  
After so many crazy escapades with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Draco knew he should’ve known that things never turned out exactly as planned- Breaking out of Gringrotts on the back of a dragon, sneaking into the Ministry with polyjuice just for it to begin to wear off at the most unhelpful moment…!  
He never quite imagined taking this step, however.  
He still felt a sting of surprise at the finality, at the fact he was even willing to consider taking it.  
_The boy who called Granger a mudblood all those years ago would never have entertained the notion of sacrificing himself._  
But, he thought with a wry smile, he was no longer that boy.

His hand trembled as he signed his will and testament, signing away property and items he wasn’t even sure if he still had a claim to- Voldemort and the Death Eaters had taken great pleasure in destroying all the items of value in the Manor after the Malfoys turned traitors.  
Until now he had felt almost unafraid, as if this was all just a dream to be laughed at in the light of day. As if what he was about to do wasn’t real, wasn’t an actual course of action.  
That changed as he tapped the parchment with his wand, watching it roll itself up and disappear in a cloud of sparks.  
He stared at the place on the desk where it once lay, fear suddenly crashing down on him like a tonne of bricks.  
_There was no going back now._

For a moment he was stuck there, mind overloaded with the thought that this was really the end.  
That every adventure, every smile and laugh and tear had lead to this moment.  
He took a deep breath. _In. Out._ Just as Hermione had advised.  
He had always thought that there would be time for goodbyes. Long, tearful apologies. Tender words exchanged with his loved ones.  
But it was not to be.  
Time had run out and no time-turner in the world could save them if he didn’t do this.

Draco stood, glancing around the office.   
It was silent up here, almost peaceful. One could forget that a battle had been raging outside only hours earlier.  
Then Harry came bursting in through the doorway.  
“Draco!”  
_Just breathe._

Draco turned to face him.  
“Yes, Harry?”  
_He would never get over the little skip his heart made when he said that name. When he realised that he had the right to say that name, even now.  
__Not Potter- Harry._

Harry’s gaze was scorching, blazing like a wildfire.  
“I know what came out of the dungeons, Draco.”  
Draco’s heart stuttered but he hid it with a small smile.  
“Ah. Winky found it then.”  
“Yeah. She did. And she told me what’s inside.” Harry said in a voice that barely sounded calm, words  
pushed out through gritted teeth.  
  
‘I’m sorry, Harry. You weren’t supposed to know.”  
The Boy Who Lived shook his head, grinding his teeth together as he desperately tried to reign in his temper.  
“We thought you’d try to pull something like this. I did, Ron did, Hermione did-“  
He met his eyes.  
“I know what you’re planning, Draco. And I will not allow it. I will not let a single other person sacrifice their life for me. Not ever, ever again.”

“I _have_ to do this.” Draco said. “It seems insane, I know. But you have to _live_ , Harry, you have to live and defeat Him!”  
Harry’s blood began to boil. “ _I_ have to live? What about you?!”  
“They cannot win this war without you, Harry!”  
“What’s the point in winning it if everyone I love dies anyway?!”  
  
They both go silent, heavy breathing the only sound in the cluttered tower.  
This is not the first declaration of love that Harry has made for him but the finality of the situation makes it all the more tear-jerking, all the more tragic.  
Draco’s next words are sharp, harsh, and quiet.  
“You need time. Time to destroy the Horcruxes and you don’t have it.”

“Draco-“  
“Voldemort wants us to hand ourselves over and, in return, he will hold a cease-fire. He’s promised  
that.”  
“Exactly why I have to go-“  
Draco slammed his hands down on the desk.  
“NO! That is exactly why you CANNOT go! He is invulnerable at this moment and will use that to his ADVANTAGE! You hand yourself over to him on a silver platter and it will do nothing but damn all those hiding in this castle at this very moment. You need someone to go in and make a sacrifice play while the rest of you destroy the pieces of his soul keeping him tethered to life.”

Harry pulled out his wand.  
“No. No way. I am not letting this happen.”  
“ _Harry!_ “  
“Think about your family! Think about your _mother_!” Harry pleaded, desperately trying to make Draco see sense.  
“She sacrificed _everything_ to keep you safe. To keep her son safe and out of danger and _alive_ \- You want to go out there and throw that back in her face? To willingly walk to your DEATH?”

The Slytherin snapped.  
“Really? Pulling the mother card, Potter? Well what about yours? Your mother sacrificed her LIFE to protect you and you’d throw that away because you can’t stand the thought of losing anyone else?”  
He shook his head.  
“Tough shit, Potter, you don’t get a say in this one. My mother is a strong woman. She'll understand in time."  
_He tried to make himself believe it._

 

Harry’s glare turned feral. His grip on his wand tightened until his knuckles went white.  
“Hell. No.”  
Pointing his wand at Draco’s forehead he walked forwards until Draco sat back into Dumbledore’s outrageously lavish chair, hands raised.  
Something dangerous gleamed in his eyes and Draco actually felt a slight flicker of fear.  
“I will be going _alone_.”

“Harry in a few hours I’ll probably be dead anyway.” The boy reasoned. “Hermione may die, Ron may die, all of the muggleborns and all of the teachers, all dead or dying at the Death Eaters’ feet.  
Almost everyone I love will be gone.  
All you’re doing is making sure Voldemort wins. You would not be saving anyone.”  
Harry’s resolve wavered. Draco could see it.

The Slytherin's efforts doubled, his face earnest, pleading.  
“I know you hate it, Harry. But it’s a good plan and it _can_ work.”  
He stood, and slowly stepped towards his friend.  
He saw Harry’s face crumple.  
“I know it can, Draco.”  
_But_.  
“But I won’t sit back and watch you die.”  
The words rolled off of Harry’s lips before Draco even had the chance to go for his wand.  
“Inebrius!”

Draco's knees went weak before his tongue did. If it weren’t for Harry’s seeker reflexes he would’ve ended up crashing into the floor. The Saviour of The Wizarding World lowered him slowly to the ground while Draco’s weakening appendages curled desperately around the fabric of his clothes.  
  
It was a simple spell that Draco had taught them himself, supposed to send the victim into a state of near-drunkenness, temporarily affecting their ability to walk, talk, and think. He had drilled the proper pronunciation into them for hours, critiquing their wandwork until it was exceptional, and asking them to perform the jinx on each other until it was impossible for them to get it wrong.  
He had been so proud when Hermione revealed she’d never seen the spell before. When Ron clapped him on the back with a grin and Harry had complimented the spell (and Draco-).  
  
So happy.  
How ironic that rather than being used against the Death Eaters it was intended for, Harry would use it on him instead.  
Draco gazed up at the face of his friend with blurring vision.

  
“I’m so sorry, Draco. But I can’t do it. I can’t let anyone else die for me…”  
Harry offered him a soft smile.  
“Especially not one of my best friends.”  
Draco’s jellified limbs desperately tried to bend and twist and _move_ but they just flailed and any words he tried just faded into whispers in his brain. The harder he tried to think the more clouded his thoughts became.  
It was hopeless.  
Harry scratched at the back of his neck where Draco’s desperate fingers had furled around his shirt collar, trying to find purchase. The skin tingled.

“I hope that one day you’ll all find a way to forgive me. Tell Ron and Hermione-“  
Harry glanced away.  
“Tell them I love them. And that I’m sorry.”  
He stepped back, looking at Draco’s paralysed form for a moment longer. Then he turned away. He waited, just for a few moments, just thinking. Then he stepped towards the door.  
“I’m the Saviour of the Wizarding World. It’s my job to make the sacrifice play, not yours.”

“No, Harry.”  
The Saviour stopped dead in his tracks.  
“You can tell them yourself.”

Harry whirled around but Draco’s wand was already pointed at his forehead and Harry’s knees were already beginning to weaken. It was impossible. Draco should be drooling onto the carpet, unable to think let alone speak, not standing tall and proud and smiling at Harry in that sad, sad way that made his insides twist into knots and his heart grow unreasonably heavy.  
“I don’t understand-“  
“I know.” Draco said, plucking the Gryffindor’s wand from his feeble grip and placing a guiding hand on his shoulder. He ushered him towards the chair Harry had backed him into earlier, depositing him gently on the seat.  
“I know.”

Harry fought for control of his hand- _why were his hands so heavy?-_ and lifted it, brushing it gently across the back of his neck.  
He dragged in a sharp breath.  
_How could I have been so stupid?_

Draco smiled gently and leant on the edge of Dumbledore’s desk.  
“It looks like Granger was right.”  
He reached for something on his own wrist- a small, circular patch- and ripped it off. An adrenaline patch to counter the worst affects of the jinx.  
“Sometimes a good muggle invention is worth more than a hundred spells.”  
Harry could only stare at him in despair.  
“I’m sorry it took me so many years to realise that. Maybe we could’ve been friends sooner. Maybe more lives could’ve been saved.”

“Why- How?” Harry slurred as his vision wavered. He tried to fight his fogging mind but thoughts just seemed to slip away.  
“A sedative, of sorts. Built into some ingenious sticky patch. Nothing harmful in the long term. Just enough to keep you here for an hour or so.”  
Tears built in the corners of Harry’s eyes and for a moment he thought he saw regret flash across the Slytherin’s countenance. If it was, it disappeared quickly.

“It’s funny, really. Muggles go around overcomplicating everything, making the most amazing machines for the simplest of tasks but the thing is, wizards never plan for muggles. Wizards don’t account for a gun or a drug or a physical error. Wizards scan for hexes, for magical traces. You’d be better off making an attempt on a wizard’s life with a muggle cyanide pill than a hex or potion.”  
Draco regarded him fondly.  
“This isn’t your fault.”

 _He was really going to go through with it.  
__“_ No-“ Harry managed.  
Draco shook his head and leant forwards, wiping away Harry’s tears.  
“There is no other way. You need this advantage. He has to believe that you are dead for the plan to work.”  
“Please, Draco-“  
Whatever he was going to say next died on his lips as the muscles went slack.  
The Slytherin nearly broke, nearly- Harry saw it in the tremble of his hands, in the softness of his eyes.  
But he didn’t.

He brushed Harry’s fringe from his forehead, sweeping it out of his eyes and smiled ruefully when the surly black locks merely fell into place exactly as they were before.  
“I want you to be aware, my dear friend, that without you I would not be the person I am today.”  
He leaned in close and whispered.  
“I was a broken boy and you fixed me. Thank you.”

They were both crying then.  
“Voldemort expects you, alone. He’ll expect you to force me to stay behind. He’ll get exactly as he planned for.”  
The door opens behind him and Winky steps through, a silver flask in hand.  
“Here you are, Sir.”  
The little house elf offers it to him, giving Harry only the slightest of glances.  
Draco accepts it from her.  
“Thank you, Winky.”

The Slytherin reaches forwards and Harry feels only the slightest of pains before Draco steps back, something pinched between two fingers. He drops it into the flask.  
Glances down.  
Then he huffs out a laugh as if anything could be funny in this situation.  
“Figures. You've got a heart of gold, after all.”  
Harry’s heart breaks as he watches Draco Lucius Malfoy turn away for the last time.  
Then Draco chugs the potion and the transformation begins.  
Harry can only watch as he braves the agonising shift into- well, him- and a second Harry Potter rises to stare back at him.  
“Scared, Potter?” he tries, offering a grin. 

Draco slips away before the rising terror can claim him, force him to reconsider.  
Another tear falls as Harry realises he cannot even turn his head to watch him walk away.


End file.
